Francis Lewis Dies On this day in 1803, Francis Lewis, signer of the Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York, dies in New York City, at the age of 90. Lewis was born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, he was the child of Morgan Lewis and Anne Pettingale and educated at the prestigious Westminster School in London. He entered a mercantile house in London, then moved to Whitestone, New York in 1734 at 22 years old. Lewis founded businesses in New York and Philadelphia, winning lucrative contracts to provision the British army in America. During the Seven Year’s War, Lewis served General Hugh Mercer as an aide. Traveling with Mercer, Lewis was captured in Oswego and taken as a prisoner of war to France. For his service, the New York government granted him 5,000 acres upon his return to the colony. In 1765, Lewis served as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress and retired from his mercantile career to settle in Whitestone, Long Island, becoming active in revolutionary politics, including the Sons of Liberty. He was a member of the Committee of Sixty, a member of the New York Provincial Congress, and was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1775. In 1776, he continued to serve the first two bodies and signed the Declaration of Independence. He continued as a member of the Continental Congress until 1779, when he assumed the position of commissioner of the Board of Admiralty. Lewis patriotism came at a high cost. The British army destroyed his Long Island estate and took his wife prisoner in 1776. She remained a prisoner, reportedly without a bed or change of clothes, for many months because the Continental Army had no women of similar status in captivity for whom George Washington could orchestrate an exchange. Neither Mrs. Lewis health nor the couples fortune ever recovered from the attack. His son Morgan Lewis served in the army during the Revolutionary War and later held many offices in New York State, including Governor. Francis Lewiss great-grandson, Manning Livingston, died at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. He also has many relatives stretching all the way to Idaho. His great-great-great grandson was Hollywood director William A. Wellman, and his great-granddaughter was author and actress Anna Cora Mowatt. In Queens, New York, Francis Lewis High School and P.S. 79 The Francis Lewis School are named for Lewis. There is also Francis Lewis Boulevard, which locals tend to refer to as Franny Lew, stretching almost the entire north/south length of the borough, as well as Francis Lewis Park, which is located underneath the Queens approach of the Bronx Whitestone Bridge. A Masonic Lodge, Francis Lewis #273, is also located in Whitestone Photos: Grave of Francis Lewis at Trinity Church Cemetery. Portrait of Francis Lewis
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 14:00:00 +0000
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